SEÁN MORANon the hard work that has helped the Déise reach both senior and minor Munster finals for a second successive year for the first time
THE FEELING in Waterford is buoyant. The county’s senior hurlers line up for their seventh Munster final in 13 years and, if the team that neutrals so desperately want to win an All-Ireland turn up nowadays more in hope than expectation, their tenacity in hanging on to their status as a top-four county has been impressive.
Since their breakthrough year in 1998 when they reached their first Munster final of the back-door era, Waterford have featured in seven All-Ireland semi-finals, a tally bettered only by Kilkenny, who have been there in every one of the 12 years, and equalled by only Cork.
But it’s not just the resilient challenge the seniors continue to offer that lifts the spirits in the county – although it is a source of continuing pride – but the radical regeneration of the underage sector that sees Waterford for the first time in history contesting both minor and senior Munster finals for a second successive year.
Only this week in a replayed semi-final in Walsh Park the county defeated Cork in the Munster minor semi-final.
Astonishingly, it was the first victory over their neighbours at the under-18 level in 60 years.
The success of Waterford schools in recent years has also helped contribute to a sense of confidence about the future. De La Salle, the Waterford city school, won back-to-back All-Irelands in 2007-08 and Dungarvan CBS reached this year’s All-Ireland final.
The Tony Forristal trophy for under-14s, hosted by the county since 1982, finally recorded a home win in 2007. Waterford were back in last year’s final.
One man who has seen much of the modern evolution is Pat Moore, a former intercounty referee and chair of the county games development committee for 15 years.
“It goes back to the 1980s,” he says. “It was Brother Griffey (attached to Mount Sion CBS), a fierce, fiery and feisty Clare man who looked at the city and said, “something must be done”. Now everyone says that and then goes off and has the tea but he did something about it. He spoke to people in WIT to ask them to send some of the students to the schools as a pilot scheme.
“The start of structured coaching came from Colm Bonnar (the Tipperary All-Ireland winner and pioneer of sports development in WIT) in Waterford IT. There were visits to schools, development and more development, spreading to the clubs.
“Originally coaching belonged to a guru class, but now parents are doing it, giving their time when they have children involved. There’s a place in coaching for everybody.
“Everything was down to the quality of coaching. That’s the base line you work from. Nearly all of the players on the senior panel have come through after being identified in the school system.”
In the early 1990s a full-time hurling coach (Peter Power, a selector on the 1992 under-21s who won the All-Ireland) was appointed to the schools and the “Hurling on the Green” scheme, aimed at children in housing estates, was initiated along with summer camps.
In time, Waterford IT, the starting point for what was to come, having been notable for the lack of local involvement in its earliest successes in storming the Bastille of Fitzgibbon Cup success, began to feature young Waterford hurlers in its winning teams.
“It’s not rocket science,” says Moore. “It’s very simple. Kilkenny do the same but do more of it; there they play morning, noon and night at all levels. Football is a factor for us because good quality hurlers are often good footballers but it’s just lads playing another game.”
Like in Kilkenny, the process is valued not only because it produces succeeding generations of players but also because it has become a proving ground for coaches.
But the emergence of new playing talent, such as Noel Connors, captain of the De La Salle teams, who plays tomorrow has helped sustain the ambition of Waterford being challengers on a regular basis rather than enjoying a limited period in the limelight before falling away, as has been the past experience.
“It’s all about passion in Waterford,” according to Moore, “the passion to keep searching for something we haven’t won since 1959, a search for something we haven’t had in all that time. That search keeps us going.
“There’s an enormous appetite for hurling in Waterford – 1998 was the beginning at senior level and we’ve kept going since with the role models we’ve had for underage during 12 years of high-level performance.
“We’ve maintained that, even though we haven’t won the All-Ireland, through changes in personnel and management. It can be self-generating as long as we do the underage work.
“I remember when the ambition was to compete in the Munster minor first round. Now we’re competing in provincial finals. The higher level has become the norm and there’s a level of consistency.”
The quest for an All-Ireland, unfulfilled for 51 years, haunted the county during the last decade. Unfortunate to be contending with an exceptional Cork team and a history-making Kilkenny side, Waterford had seen their best chances of third MacCarthy Cup fade by the time they reached the 2008 final.
Surely the outsized devastation inflicted on them by Kilkenny must have stifled momentum in the county? Moore disagrees.
“We came back within a year. Even though Kilkenny will beat you, they’re also the challenge. In 2008 we appreciated the players did all that they could but didn’t perform as they would have wanted. People were very understanding.”
And tomorrow with Cork restored and in pursuit of success, Waterford stand in the way with enough players for whom a Munster title would be a new experience. The optimism which Moore radiates is based on the big day out as part of a continuum not in itself a generational achievement.
“Everywhere there’s ambition,” he says. “When we’ve players like John Mullane there’s a reason to dream of another title but we’re also better able to cope with the losses. We still realise there’s hope and when we lose it’s not just another defeat.”
